Our Mission

by Rev. Jennifer Brooks. We almost canceled the concert. But the musicians, in their grief, said that if they had to choose between playing music together or staying home alone, they would play music together. One of them said, “It’s what we do.” So on Saturday night, just a few days after the heart-wrenching death of our beloved Pawel Jura, Director of Music and Arts, musicians of “UUCF Banding Together” rocked the Sanctuary. It was an epic tribute to their inspirational teacher, mentor, friend. It wasn’t only the musicians who came, but the whole community: people of all ages. Children danced with their teddy bears. Teens danced in a circle of friends (and allowed their parents to dance). Elders defied aging joints and danced. Everyone sang along whether we knew the words or not. Together we found joy in the midst of grief. We’re a community. It’s what we do.We grieve but we don’t grieve alone. Community doesn’t let anyone grieve alone. Our UU community holds us, supports us, gives us courage to carry on, shows us love, helps us find joy. A death like this one is so hard to understand. Pawel was vibrant, smiling, alive. He encouraged us to try new things, to stretch beyond our comfort zones. He made us laugh. We only knew him for seven months, but he gave so much in that short time. He gave unstintingly to our youth, mentoring them and bringing them into our worship services where they glowed with promise. The Virginia Medical Examiner has confirmed that this beautiful spirit took his own life. His passing was peaceful, but what a loss. How can we create meaning from this sadness? Let us start with understanding. Depression is an insidious illness that can lock its sufferers in silence, wrongly convincing them that there is no help. It warps reality. It filters out the positive messages. Without access to the very real help that is available, life seems impossibly painful. (Click here for resources on suicide prevention and depression.) Yet despite all this, despite his struggles, Pawel touched us. He shone in our lives like a light. He talked occasionally about discovering Unitarian Universalism. It was when he first began working at the UU Society: East in Manchester, CT, where he was music director before moving to Virginia and UUCF. Before that he hadn’t heard of Unitarian Universalism. Then he found a place filled with love and acceptance. “It saved my life,” he said seriously to me one day. We all long for love and acceptance. We long for community – authentic community that accepts us and holds us and helps us grow in our own unique way. Unitarian Universalism offers us that. It’s up to us here and now to offer Unitarian Universalism to everyone who needs it; to all whose lives might be saved. Pawel’s life, filled with love and fire, was saved long enough to give us the gift of knowing him for a short while. Too short a time, but long enough to change us. Now his life invites us to make a light of our own lives. His love for UUs and what we offer the world invites us to make UUCF a light. Perhaps that’s the meaning we can carry forward from this sorrow – the meaning we will create so that Pawel’s presence among us is not lost. It’s what we do. NOTE: Memorial services for Pawel Jura are planned both here at UUCF and at the UU Society: East. We will share details when they are available.